? Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Less than a month after leaving the army, Wang Mingshan began to wonder if he had made the wrong choice. Being the eldest son and grandson at home, he had to endure all kinds of indescribable restrictions. Now that he was with the army, the restrictions were naturally greatly reduced. However, his days were still miserable.
As the young master of a wealthy family, not only did he have to wear straw sandals and sleep on straw beds, but he also had to learn how to weave straw sandals and sew clothes. The army also taught new members like Wang Mingshan all kinds of knowledge. They did not talk about poetry or the words of saints. They only taught how to march and pay attention to protecting their bodies. Although Wang Mingshan's education was recognized, Vézé's army clearly did not treat him as a scholar.
Wang Mingshan was the young master of a wealthy family. Even though he was at the peak of his physical activity at the age of 19, his physical strength and recovery ability were at the peak, he had never received heavy training. After marching every day, his clothes would be wet, dry, and wet. Calluses would form on his feet, and the calluses would break. Not only did the calluses hurt, but the muscles all over his body were also extremely sore.
Fortunately, he was assigned to Shen Xin's team. Seeing Shen Xin acting as if nothing had happened, Wang Mingshan could not help but complain to Shen Xin.
After quietly listening to Wang Mingshan's complaints, Shen Xin only said one sentence, "There is only one thing you need to do now, and that is to follow them!"
"But I really can't move!" Wang Mingshan replied with a bitter face.
"Then ask the drill instructor what to do?" Shen Xin gave Wang Mingshan a suggestion.
Hearing this suggestion, Wang Mingshan was a little hesitant. He asked tentatively, "Will they scold me for being useless?"
Shen Xin was amused by these words. He laughed and said, "You're already like this. Do you still think you're useful?"
If Shen Xin wasn't Wang Mingshan's old classmate, his words would definitely infuriate Wang Mingshan. Even though he trusted Shen Xin enough, Wang Mingshan almost lost his face and wanted to vent his anger at Shen Xin. According to the scholars and the history books he had read, the Omniscient were all 'courteous to the wise' and treated scholars with special privileges. After two years of studying in the new school established by Vézé, Wang Mingshan no longer dared to underestimate the Taiping army under Vézé. Although they didn't talk about sages, mathematics, nature, and other subjects were still solid knowledge. However, they were all educated scholars. Shouldn't they be more courteous to scholars who read the books of sages? There were no sedans in Vézé's Taiping army. All the officers had to walk or ride horses. They should at least give Wang Mingshan and the others horses! What was the point of marching with ordinary people?
However, the pain from the broken calluses on his feet and the soreness in his muscles made Wang Mingshan listen to Shen Xin's suggestion. He limped to the training officer to ask his questions.
The instructor kept a straight face and looked very strict, but he still quietly listened to Wang Mingshan's introduction of his body's condition. After checking Wang Mingshan's condition and pressing various parts of his body, the training officer said, "Go and rest now. Report back tomorrow morning!"
Although he didn't know what the training officer was going to do, Wang Mingshan was really exhausted. The young man was sleepy. After returning to his bunk in the camp, Wang Mingshan laid down and wanted to say something, but he fell asleep before he could say anything.
The next morning, after Wang Mingshan woke up, he felt that his injuries and pain were much better. He ate breakfast and hurried to find the training officer. When he arrived, he found 70 to 80 young men around Wang Mingshan's age gathered there. The training officer didn't talk about how to deal with the pain. Instead, he talked about the physiology of muscles, tendons, and bones in front of a few pictures.
The lesson lasted for an entire day. Besides talking, the training officer also let the young men experience the existence of muscles through various movements. Finally, the training officer talked about the main points of walking. This was the first time Wang Mingshan was listening to such a lesson. Looking at the reactions of the young men around him, it was also their first time receiving such education and training.
The main point of walking was to use the muscles in the front of the thighs to lift the thighs. During this process, the knees and calves were relaxed. When the thighs fell, the muscles in the back of the thighs pushed the calves, and finally the heels touched the ground. If one walked according to the training officer's method, the blistered forefeet would not be able to bear much force. The tired and sore knees would not be able to bear much force.
The training officer and the soldiers demonstrated the walking movements. Looking at the movements of the young men who had also been tortured to death by the marching army, coupled with his own walking, Wang Mingshan found that his strength was stopped at the knees. Although learning a new way of walking was very uncomfortable, it was obviously much more comfortable than the original way.
After they finished this lesson, they left their original troops, and the training officer had no intention of letting them go. For the next three days, there were special soldiers watching them as they marched. Once there was an incorrect walking posture, they would immediately correct them and even scold them. At first, Wang Mingshan felt that he was greatly humiliated. However, after three days, the blisters on his feet had mostly healed because they were no longer under pressure. At the same time, the marching speed had increased, and the energy consumption during the march was greatly reduced. As everyone's marching ability improved, the number of scoldings they received also decreased.
On the afternoon of the third day, the group of young men that Wang Mingshan was in actually managed to catch up with the troops that had left a day earlier and returned to their original troops.
This time, Wang Mingshan was very emotional. He confidently said to Shen Xin, "At first, I listened to Handan learning to walk but failed. In the end, I forgot the original way of walking and could only crawl back home. I thought that was a joke, but now it seems that walking is also a skill. It was not wrong to go to Handan, the mistake was that I did not persist in learning how to walk. The ancients did not deceive me! "
Shen Xin nodded and answered, "The 'Three Character Classic' has long said that if you do not learn, you will break the rules. Either you learn to the end, or you don't start. Don't try. "
Wang Mingshan nodded in agreement, "Handan learning to walk is indeed a person who gave up halfway …"
"I'm not talking about handan learning to walk, I'm talking about you. Don't try to run just because you can't stand the hardship. Prince Of Qi's troops are very different from other troops. If you don't do the specific things well, they won't scold you, they won't say that you're stupid, and they won't say that you're born bad. In Prince Of Qi's troops, they think that you don't know how to do it because you haven't done it before and haven't learned it, so you can't do it well. In order for you to be able to do what you have to do, they have to teach you how to do it. If you encounter something you don't understand and don't ask or learn, you just feel that you can't take it anymore and have the idea of running away. That's not a problem with Prince Of Qi's troops, it's a problem with yourself! "
Wang Mingshan still could not accept Shen Xin's criticism, but reality proved that Shen Xin was right. Wang Mingshan blushed and replied in a low voice, "I understand!"
After Wang Mingshan's troops arrived in Xuancheng, they were immediately integrated into the new system. The Political Department was set up in the Commander-in-Chief's Office. Former temporary government workers like Shen Xin and educated followers like Wang Mingshan were integrated into the Political Department as students. The students were integrated into the troops and were engaged in the most basic logistics and clerical work. Shen Xin had experience as a temporary worker and was rated as a second lieutenant. Wang Mingshan had no experience in the system and the safety regulations, so he became the most basic private.
Wang Mingshan felt unbalanced again. He asked Shen Xin what Vézé meant by doing this. Shen Xin's answer was almost the same as before. "Don't ask anything, just follow!"
"Where are we going?!" Wang Mingshan was very unhappy with this answer.
Shen Xin replied calmly, "It's already stated at the mobilization meeting that we're going to Guangzhou this time."
Wang Mingshan said angrily, "The mobilization meeting said that Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan is immoral, but it doesn't mean that it's wrong to divide the land equally! That's why the troops have to take Guangzhou first! But you and I were assigned to the logistics department, and we have to carry things all day. We might even have to go to war! We're going to attack Guangzhou! "
Shen Xin looked at Wang Mingshan's flustered and exasperated look and was amused. "Haha! Mingshan, the troops are going to attack Guangzhou! But if we can't even reach Guangzhou, we won't even have the chance to attack Guangzhou. Why are you in such a hurry? "
Wang Mingshan finally spoke his mind after hearing such a calm explanation. "Shen Xin, I was thinking that we scholars should follow Prince Of Qi …"
"We used to be called Prince Of Qi, but now we're Prince Of Qi. We're no longer part of the Taiping Rebellion. Comrade Vézé is the Governor of the Recovered Governor's Office. We're going to be called Military Governor Of Wei! "Shen Xin corrected.
"Alright! Military Governor Of Wei! " Wang Mingshan was very unhappy with Shen Xin's nitpicking, and his tone was quite displeased. "We're supposed to give advice to Military Governor Of Wei and help him deal with government affairs. Now we're assigned to the logistics department. What's this? Military Governor Of Wei is obviously looking down on us! "
After hearing this, Shen Xin frowned and said, "Military Governor Of Wei is looking down on us? Are you really stupid or are you just playing dumb? "
"Then why do you think Military Governor Of Wei arranged us like this?" Wang Mingshan made up his mind to clarify things with Shen Xin.
Faced with Wang Mingshan's bad attitude, Shen Xin was also very displeased. "Military Governor Of Wei told us during the meeting that there's nothing wrong with dividing the land equally. Even if we don't follow the Taiping Rebellion, we still have to divide the land equally! If he didn't really think highly of us, he wouldn't have said that! "
Wang Mingshan really couldn't see why Vézé thought so highly of him. After hearing this, he still looked displeased.
Shen Xin continued, "When I was a temporary worker in Anhui, I was in charge of collecting and paying taxes. After determining how much land there is and who owns the land, we can start collecting taxes. According to the policy, we can determine how much tax to collect for different grades of land. How do we get tax exemption for military families? How do we use the taxes collected? Most of them are used to supply the troops. We're now under the political department, not soldiers. We're from the political department now! After understanding logistics, we'll know the daily needs of the troops. When we get to the battlefield, we'll know how to hand over the food supply to the troops! Mingshan! This is the early training for becoming a local official! "
Wang Mingshan understood Shen Xin's words, but he completely disagreed with Shen Xin's point of view. "Then he can just appoint us as officials. Why does he have to go through so much trouble? He's obviously not thinking highly of us! "
Shen Xin frowned and said seriously, "Let you be an official now? Do you know how evil those people are? If you go now, you'll be killed by them! You won't know if you've never seen it! Let me tell you! I've seen it more than ten times. A village collected 100 dans of food, and after four shipments, the troops only got 80 dans. If you're in charge of this, the troops will ask you where the 20 dans of food went! Do you know? "
Wang Mingshan was stunned. He thought for a moment, but he didn't know how to answer. In the end, he asked in surprise, "There are still people who dare to steal the military's food?"
"Hmph!" Shen Xin sneered. "The troops don't care how you manage the food. That's your business! The troops only care about asking for food from you. If you're short of 20 dans of food, and you can't get it, that's your business. The troops follow the military law. 20 dans of food is equivalent to chopping off a lot of people's heads! If you don't know the ropes, you won't even know how you died. I've seen this kind of thing more than once or twice, and it's not just one or two people who died! You want to become an official, but it's very likely that you'll be cheated by someone and lose your head! "
Wang Mingshan held it in for a long while, and finally squeezed out a sentence. "… This, these unruly people are so bold!"
Shen Xin was once again amused by Wang Mingshan's flustered and exasperated look. He said with a smile, "Let me tell you, the ones who dare to make a loss of food have never been the commoners. When the commoners have really handed over enough food, the ones who dare to mess around are all the lowly people. The Military Governor Wei wants us to start from the bottom, that's really for our own good! Mingshan, just listen to him and follow him! That's right! "
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